Posts Tagged ‘soup’

Last week I was requested to make a Cholent at work, a Cholent (if you are not familiar with the term) is a slowly cooked mixture of beans, potatoes, meat, barley and sometimes whole eggs. The beans need to be soaked in water for a few hours prior to cooking, and so the first thing I did that morning, was to soak 1lb of mixed beans. 6 hours later, just as I was about to start cooking the Cholent, a man walked into the kitchen, carrying two large aluminum pans with, guess what?, Cholent.
Now I have a pound of soaked beans, and clearly no need for Cholent…

I called South Africa immediately and I asked my second dad for his famous bean soup recipe, growing up I remember this soup as a special treat, it’s perfect for cold weather, to eat while snuggling next to the fire watching the winter out of the window. Funny how subjective life is, today I know that those cold winters back home, weren’t really cold, and that 40 degrees is a nice day if you are wintering in NYC…

If you have a pressure cooker now will be the time to pull it out and use it, I don’t have one, which is why this soup was cooking for about a week (at least that’s what it felt like, in real life it was about 8 hours).

Heat the oil in the pot you are intending on using for the soup, add the meat and sear it, add all ingredients BUT the beans along with 2 cups of water and stir well.
Add beans and remaining of water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer, if using a pressure cooker you will have your soup ready in an hour. if not… oh well, good things are worth waiting for.

I’m in Tokyo and I can’t stop eating. Unfortunately my stomach is not as big as I sometimes wish it was… But don’t worry, luckily I’m accompanied by a man who loves food and for the most part always help me to finish my plate off.
For our first meal we had ramen in Ikebukuro, the noodles were served it a thick pork broth, with a mountain of scallions and a perfectly cooked egg. We didn’t know that Ikebukuro is famous for a certain type of ramen, where the noodles are served on the side and then dipped into the broth, oh no, it looks like we gonna have to eat ramen again…So incredibly delicious…

Later that day we met up with our friends Emi and Bill for dinner in Asakusa, after a quick visit to Sensō-ji, a beautiful Buddhist temple, we walked down a street filled with small cozy eateries, and had Emi choose the spot for dinner. Let me just say, she did not do us wrong, The food was unreal.
We had some tofu in kimchi broth and slow cooked beef (both were cooked in a continuous broth – as they take soup out, they add stuff in, so you have a never-ending pot of goodness), asparagus and butter, seaweed and ginger salad, tuna sashimi and sapporo. a lot of sapporo.

I promised Debbie about a month ago that I will make some lentil soup and put the recipe up, but this entire time I just wasn’t inspired to cook any lentils, then I saw these green french lentils at the coop and knew that today is the day.

Like other legumes, lentils are low in fat and high in protein and fiber, but they have the added advantage of cooking quickly and they don’t require any soaking.
Green lentils are usually the ones I go for, the french ones are more delicate and take longer to cook. all lentils should be rinsed and picked through for stones before cooking. Oh, and by the way, they will take longer to cook if they are combined with salt or acidic ingredients, so add these last.

start by sweating the onion, carrot, celery and turnip in 2 tablespoons of oil, add black pepper and a pinch of salt just to get some liquid out of the veggies, add garlic, potato and lentils. Add liquid, cumin, paprika and a bay leaf. bring to a boil and lower to simmer. cook for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the lentils you are using. Keep checking that there is enough liquid in the pot, the lentils soak up a lot of liquid as they cook and the soup will slowly turn thicker, its up to you to decide how thick you want it to be. Taste a few lentils after the first 40 minutes and see if they are completely cooked and soft, make any adjusting to the flavor if needed, if the lentils are ready add the lemon juice, salt and the chopped tomato, cook for 5-10 more minutes discard the bay leaf and serve, garnished with chopped parsley.

As the weather in NY drops below the freezing point, soups seems to be the only natural thing to eat.
I was told by my acupuncturist yesterday that I need to push out something that is still external , but may become internal if left untreated, and so I should eat a lot of Miso. According to Chinese tradition exterior diseases first affect the body surfaces that are exposed directly to the environment – the skin, the mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and lungs. The most prevalent exterior conditions are the common cold and flu, the sooner ones notices these conditions and take action, the more likely their interior progress can be reversed. Food that promotes sweating is recommended for treating such conditions – miso soup, ginger and peppermint tea are my favorite remedies.

Miso is a fermented soybean paste thought to have originated in China some 2,500 years ago. It is made by combining cooked soybeans, mold, salt and various grains and then fermenting them together for six months to two years. There are three basic types of miso: soybean, barley and rice, and 40-50 other varieties. Each type has its own distinctive color and flavor.Healing properties of miso: 13%-20% protein; it is a live food containing lactobacillus (the same in yogurt) that aids in digestion; it creates an alkaline condition in the body promoting resistance against disease. According to tradition, miso promotes long life and good health.
In my miso soup I like using a lot of ginger and scallions, along with kombu, wakame, tofu and shiitake.Kombu (kelp) – moistens dryness; increases yin fluids; softens hardened areas and masses in the body; helps transform heat induced phlegm; benefits kidneys; diuretic; anti-coagulant effect on the blood; is a natural fungicide; relieves coughing and asthma; soothes the lungs and throat; eradicates fungal and candida yeast overgrowths.
Wakame – diuretic; transforms and resolves phlegm; high in calcium; rich in niacin and thiamine; promotes healthy hair and skin; soften hardened tissue and masses; tonifies the yin fluids; used in Japanese tradition to purify the mother’s blood after childbirth.Tofu – benefits the lungs and large intestine; relieves inflammation in the stomach; neutralizes toxins.Shiitake

What a healthy, cold fighting soup this is going to be!
*most of this information is based on the book “healing with whole foods” by Paul Pritchard Miso soup recipe
Ingredients:

10-12 cups of chicken stock or water – I prefer using chicken stock, got to give grandma’s remedies some credit too.

I got home today after an extra long day, and I was Starving (not because I didn’t eat, I just needed more).
What am I going to eat? I sure don’t feel like cooking, and I am kind of tired of fried eggs on a toast. Ah! I remembered, I had so much squash left after making pies on Sunday and I made some soup from it. yes!
“Everything that is orange” soup is one of the many reasons why Fall might be the best season of the year.
You know how they say that carrots are good for your eyes? Well, they are right.
The carrot, and all other orange fruit,vegetables and roots, gets its characteristic and bright orange color from β-carotene, which is metabolized in our body into vitamin A, an antioxidant that neutralizes the damaging free radicals in the body, and is helpful not only for good eyesight but also for the skin, lungs, digestive tract and heart health. The juice from carrots and squash reduces inflammation and heals burns (though my favorite treatment for those two is turmeric-another orange-colored goodness).
All orange-colored vegetables are also beneficial for blood sugar regulation, and are rich in vitamin C, an antioxidant which boosts the immune system, protects against cardiovascular disease and helps rebuild collagen in the skin.
According to Chinese traditions carrots, squash seeds and pumpkin seeds are also extremely helpful if you are trying to destroy intestinal worms and improves qi energy circulation. * (based mostly on information from the book “Healing with whole foods” Paul Pitchford, “she-knows” health and wellness and other online sources).

I knew there is a reason why I am favoring the orange colors in my life.

Well, back to dinner, kombu and butternut squash soup, an easy, delicious meal that will help you stay vibrant and healthy.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 small or one medium size squash: butternut, buttercup, kombu, acorn, kabucha, sweet dumpling, or any other squash you like. I prefer any combination of the first three listed.

2 large carrots, cut into big chunks

1 medium onion, cut into 1/4

few cloves of garlic

fresh ginger root (about 3-4 inch long), grated

4-5 cups chicken stock

12 oz cream or half and half- totally optional

oil or butter for roasting vegetables

salt and pepper

some bread to serve on the side

Directions:

pre-heat the oven to about 300 degrees

cut open squash and clean all the seeds and the stringy parts (keep seeds for sprouting or roasting)

rub the squash with olive oil or butter, salt and pepper, place a clove of garlic inside the squash and cover with foil

place carrots and onion in a roasting pan, with oil, salt and pepper

roast all vegetables until tender, carrots and onions may be ready before the squash

when the squash is ready separate from the skin and place in a blender along with the carrots, onion, ginger, half the stock, about a tablespoon of oil or butter and cream, if desired – you might have to do this step in two batches

blend together and add chicken stock until you reach the right consistency

add salt and pepper to taste

toast the bread and rub it with a sliced clove of garlic, some butter and salt. serve on the side

Notes:
as the soup cools down it will thicken, when you reheat it add some more stock or water if necessary.
you can also use pumpkin and sweet potato in this soup, or a little bit of everything.